Attack on the Orange

The weekend was too beautiful to stay inside, so on Sunday I got out the pruners and visciously attacked my mexican mock orange.

I thought about waiting until after it bloomed, but I started to shear the fern hiding under it and couldn't help myself.

Could barely tell there was a fern there.

I started to just prune off a few of the lower branches near the fern, but realized that when the stalks of the plant touch the ground they start growing roots. And trust me, this guy didn't need any more roots.

Here's the before picture.

It's not just a trick of the light, you really can't tell where the orange stops and the rhodie to the left of it starts. (YES, there IS a rhodie there!)

This guy was a monster. No regular maintenance had been done and the branches were weaving in and out of each other. I've had a bit of a hard time finding care on "Mexican mock orange" as opposed to just "mock orange", but I have come to the conclusion that you need to hack away at branches a the base, like a forsythia. The basis for that? Lots of spots where it looked like someone had cut the end off and it had grown eight more branches. Kind of like a hydra, only times eight.

Between two ferns, the orange, and a wee bit of pruning on the low branches on the rhodie, we managed to fill both yard waste bins in about two hours. Sigh. So much waste.

It may not be pretty this year, but I think the plant really needed the hair cut and will be happier in the long run. Well, maybe it won't be happier, since it was freaking covered in flower buds, but I will be.

My hydrangea is looking better than last year. I don't think I quite gave it the 1/3 cutting I should have. May have to work on it again this weekend.

And you see that green shrub behind it? IT'S ANOTHER MEXICAN ORANGE. Seriously? Were they free or something? No way there is enough space for that back in the corner. It will definitely be getting a transplant at some point.

I was examining the rhubarb patch after the perennial edibles class last week and couldn't find any sprouts. I wasn't sure if they were supposed to die all the way back to the ground in the winter, but the class assured me they were. But they said I should have little pink heads sticking out of the ground... And I didn't. But that was last week.

There are TWO tiny stalks coming out of this rhubarb. And this is the one that DIED last year! I planted the stalks and this group wilted away to nothing and didn't produce any more leaves. Look at it now!

This one produced only a few small leaves last year, but I have faith that this year it will return with vigor! Rhubarb for everyone!!

Ferns = Pruned

Well, most of them. I still have three in the back that need some selective thinning/total chop. Turns out I have a LOT of ferns. And cutting them back to the ground produces a ton of yard waste.

By the front steps, cut down to nothing.

But I cut up the fronts to act as mulch, as per Ciscoe's advice.

The side yard before pruning.

After selective pruning of one.

Total deheading of another.

Back yard from the side yard.

Hoyt, ready to help move the fronds around the yard.

Back yard, post pruning of the ferns in front of the trees.

These ones were huge. I didn't get around to the ones behind the tree yet. That will be Monday's project. I was hoping to prune my mexican mock orange, but it's got crazy buds on it, so I think I'll let it bloom first.

But everyone I have talked to said they grow like crazy here and I can hack away at it at any time and it will be just fine. But... But... flowers! I'll wait. Maybe do just a little clean up underneath if there is space in the yard waste bin.

And next weekend? I tackle this!

Mostly weeding, but I want to stake out where I have last years plants that are cut to the ground so I don't step on them when planting my natives. I also want to start a plan for a path and some steps down to the fence. I feel like every time I walk down the slope it slips just a little bit more.

And the moss patch? Maybe I'll start on that, too....

Then again, that's a big project, so maybe not...

Native Plants

I have two upcoming yard projects to work on. Well, three really, but one is the deck and therefore an "outside" project, not garden related. But more on that later.


The first project is pretty simple.  Pruning the sword ferns. I've read several articles about it and asked around to see if people actually do this. Some people say it's stupid because sword ferns are native and don't get pruned in the wild, so they forgo the snippers. Others say that they selectively prune out the brown stalks, but don't do more than that. However, I've found a few places online that suggest cutting off the whole dang plant just above ground level. Ciscoe Morris says to do it so you can watch the new fiddleheads unfurl. Other experts say to do it to keep the size of the fern in control. The Washington Native Plant Society says to each his own. I plan on hacking away at a couple of mine since I have maybe 10+ ferns throughout the yard. I'll chop off a couple of the big ones and selectively prune one or two. I have at least one fern I can think of that is on the petite side, so I will probably leave that one alone this year. I just missed the 60 degree weather to do this in, so I get to look forward to 50 and rainy this weekend. Yay.


The second project is WAY more exciting. We have been talking about how stupid is is to mow our front "lawn". It slopes towards the street so it's not that easy to mow, plus it's mostly moss and there isn't really any satisfaction when you finish because you can't really see a mowed swath. The few sparse blades of grass are shorter, but it's such a let down. Almost the entire grassy area is inside the drip line for the doug firs, so it's super shady and relatively dry in the summertime. Hence the moss.

We've been talking about pulling up the grass and moss and planting the area with native plants, but I haven't been inspired to act on it. Mostly due to other projects being more important. But now. Oh, but now.

I was dreaming of spring last week and researching my veggie seeds when I got distracted by flower seeds. Then to perennial flower seeds. Then to native perennials flowers. Somehow through all that I ended up at the King County Conservation District native plant sale. It blew my socks off. SO CHEAP. MUCH PLANTS. WOW.

Then I found the Snohomish County sale. I basically just opened my wallet and let them clean me out. Except they didn't need to clean me out. I can plant the ivy patch, the moss patch, and have some left over for $100. And that's INCLUDING purchasing a rain barrel! Mind blown.

5 Western Columbine

5 Purple Coneflower

3 Sword Fern

2 Stonecrop

4 Evergreen Huckleberry

2 Pacific Rhodedendrons

5 Red Flowering Currant

And 1 rain barrel.

I have a feeling that if they are selling stuff day of, I may end up buying some kinnikinnik as a ground cover between plants, but that depends on how full my car is. Just the plants, no problem, but including the barrel, too.... Yeah, they are getting a lot of my money this year.

Weekend Work

I have to say I had a very productive weekend. It followed a very unproductive week due to recovering from my bachelorette weekend.

Two ingredient chocolate buttercream frosting

I had to try this buttercream because it sounded so easy. You melt a bag of chocolate chips with a pound of butter. Just roll with the amount of butter and save the dieting for later. Refrigerate until hard, then return to room temperature. Beat in a mixer for 2 minutes on medium speed and it magically turns from firm buttery chocolate to whipped light and fluffy chocolate icing. It worked. It was miraculous and amazing. And.... salty. Unfortunately I didn't have any unsalted butter on hand so I used the two sticks of salted I had in the freezer (I only made half a batch). While it was super light and fluffy, it is also inedibly salty. Combine that with the failed "healthy" cake I frosted and it was a gross dessert. Into the trash it went. BUT! The fluffy frosting did indeed fluffy and frost quite nicely, so I would try it again with unsalted butter.

Blind Hem

Bought my first maxi dress and it was too long by a couple of inches. But it is the only maxi dress I've ever tried on and actually liked, so I bought it with the intention to hem it myself.  Mom suggested I do a blind hem, something I hadn't ever done before. After looking it up on YouTube and in my two sewing books, I pulled out the machine to test it. SCCCCREEEAAAAACH. Something desperately needed oiling. It probably took me two hours to get the thing open, cleaned out, oiled, and back in somewhat working order. So much for taking the dress with me to Leavenworth last weekend! On Friday I had the time to sit down and actually sew the dress hem. Took some finagling to get the folds right, but success! I wore it Saturday to a baby shower and it was perfect.

Deviled Dinosaur Eggs

Speaking of the baby shower, it had a dinosaur theme, so I made deviled dinosaur eggs. So easy and fun. After they are cooked, you just crack the shell and drop the eggs in food coloring. Dye seeps in through the cracks and colors just the cracks of the eggs. Cute!

Lettuce Harvest

My lettuce was bolting so I harvested as much as I could. I left a few head of romaine that were still doing ok, and a few heads that were flowering so I could save some seeds. Aside from that, this is the results of 5 squares of lettuce. I didn't pull up the plants in hopes that they might sprout again in the cool damp weather we've having this week. I cleaned it all and there was mass genocide of spiders. If you judge a yard by insect diversity my yard is VERY healthy.

Bookshelves!

Several weeks later and we finally put the first coat of paint on the new bookshelves. They look SO GOOD. I'm so excited to actually start using them. They need at least one more coat of paint, then I've heard the shelves should "cure" for 14-30 days before putting anything on them, otherwise they can be a bit "tacky". I can't wait to get my basement back to working order.

And, I finished a knitting project, but it is still blocking and I didn't take a picture. So productive!

Radishes bolted

I have been harvesting lettuce like crazy. I pick a little here, a little there, and let it regrow.  It's still growing strong.



My radishes, however, have all started to bolt. The french breakfast radishes did great and were actually edible, but my scarlet globe radishes all started to bolt before they bulbed up into anything edible. I ended up pulling all of my radishes since it's starting to really heat up. I plan on filling those squares with more lettuce, some carrots, and maybe some fall kale.





Speaking of kale, the kales I have in the raised beds are also growing really well. Not yet of a size I can harvest, but almost. I had two kale plants that were still in small pots from my early seed starting that I just planted in pots and place along the outside edge of the beds.



My summer savory has been growing in mats.  Unlike my thyme, which had about two seeds that germinated in the beds. The thyme seeds did fine in pots, but failed when planted in the ground. I tried to plants some seeds in my herb garden, but none of them germinated.



And, new this week: A fence!



Seems pretty dang stable. I think more birds are perching on the chain link than did on the wire fence.

We haven't talked to the side neighbors about replacing that fence yet, but they did mention that they are paying someone to put in two terraces in their backyard this summer. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that part of that landscaping is removing all the blackberries and other weeds growing in the corner. Keep those blackberries off my property!

MG Planting

Last Sunday we hit the King County Master Gardener Spring Plant Sale. I was a lot of fun. There were vendors from nurseries lining a walkway and a couple of big tents where the Master Gardeners sold all their starts. I did my part supporting the MGs by purchasing several plants for the front bed.  I talked with the nursery people and got some suggestions for what to plant in the dry shade under our Doug fir. I just got them all planted this afternoon.

I don't have pictures of them, but I bought two different kinds of Rudbekia species and planted them along the sidewalk. And, in the corner by the driveway, I planted the shasta daisies I inherited from Alan's aunt.

Of my plants from the MG sale, I got a hosta "June", which I was told the slugs really like, so I might have to keep an eye on it.

Apparently hostas grow really well anywhere ferns grow. So if we don't take out any trees I might have to buy a few more to replace some of our failing shrubs.

I got three Epimedium x veriscolor "Sulphureum".

We planted them on the downhill side of the slope with the hope that they would spread a little and cover more of the space. One or two of the plants at the show still had flowers on them. They were small, but cute. We were going for more of the green ground cover effect than for the flowers.

We also got one Disporum smithii to plant in deeper shade back towards the tree.

The plant card says it's one of the "greats" for dry shade! Sturdy and pest free.  Again, hopefully it will spread in clumps and take up some of the newly exposed planting area.

As you can see in the first picture, there is still a TON of exposed ground. I'm going to sign up for Chip Drop and see if I can't get a free delivery of some wood chips to cover the soil. I'm also going to beg and plead for some alpine strawberries from a couple people we know when the strawberries start sending out runners later this year.

As for the veggies garden, the radishes and lettuce are growing like crazy.

My neighbor was kind of in awe of all the growth. They have new raised beds in front of their west facing house. Their beds get a lot more sunlight than ours, but their seeds are barely up. Maybe spending all that money investing in the compost/vermiculite/peat moss mix was really worth it! From seed I have radishes, lettuce, carrots, and summer savory all growing. The thyme is just starting to sprout, which surprises me since the summer savory is growing in MATS already.  Three kinds of kale and a broccoli got planted a while ago and are slowly doing their thing. And just today I planted a Sungold and Nova tomato. I'm saving a square for a jalapeno, but the rest of the tomatoes and the other peppers will all go in pots.

I gave away three tomatoes and some kale to Sarah, and another tomato to my neighbor. We can test the sun vs soil debate!

I've been doing a decent job identifying all the plants in the yard. This is my current plant project. It's the shrub next to the raised beds along the fence.

To the Sunset Western Garden Book!!

April in the Garden

It's been a busy month on the yard work front.

At the start of the month we pulled down the ivy from our trees. I don't have very good pictures from before, so I stole this one from Google Earth.

The ivy was a good 30+ feet up the trees. We cut it at the ground and waited a few months for it to die off before pulling it all down. We got all but one of the trees de-ivy-ed.

That's a big ivy pile. About 20x20x3ish.

On Saturday we got around to picking up this pile so we could work on the stuff growing underneath it. This patch was pretty solid ivy.

We had some helpers and they were key in the ivy removal process.

One day of work and DANG it looks so much better. We got out almost all of the sprouts and a heckuva lot of roots, but I'm sure we'll be pulling pretty frequently for the next few months, with less and less over the next few years.

We exposed some plants I didn't even know we had! Discovered a red huckleberry under the forsythia, and discovered that the other plant is a mountain huckleberry. Sweet! (Also ID's a plant in the backyard under the hemlocks - it's a Mexican Orange! Not a mock orange because it has five-petaled flowers, not four and more evergreen foliage)

Last week we worked on the weeds in the back yard.

We got a new "action hoe" (I call it a D weeder because the end is shaped like a capital "D") and it made quick work of the soft weeds. 

I got my lettuce, carrot, radish, and herb seeds into the raised beds, too. The radishes, at least, have sprouted. The lettuce is just now starting to pop. It's sunny and 60 today, so I bet I'll get some growth today.

I also put some starts in from the basement grow operation. I planted a couple marigolds, broccoli, and a couple kinds of kale.  Everything else is still perking along under the grow light.

I just transplanted the tomatoes last weekend when I did the planting in the beds.

I was able to retrain myself from separating too many of the tomatoes, but I have to admit, I did separate one or two. But I do have intentions of giving them away.


I had been watering the starts with a spray bottle, but it was such a small bottle that I had to keep refilling it. I finally got so frustrated I came up with a new device.

A 2-liter with about 7 tiny holes drilled in the lid! The holes are small enough that not much water comes out at a time and it doesn't wash away all the soil from the starts. So perfect. And FREE!

Apparently the weather report is calling for 80 degrees on Thursday and Friday. Time to start watering the raised beds!